Internet issues

[Wraith]

I'm currently having some problems with my internet. It works fine for about quarter of an hour but after that it will lose connection. Using the "Diagnose Connection Problems" option that it then spawns will restart the connection and it will then work fine for another quarter of an hour at which point the problem will repeat.

Does anyone have any idea why this is happening and more importantly how to fix it?

If there's any more information needed then just name it.


Below is a diagnostic log provided by the system when it restored the connection after it timed out while making this post

Last diagnostic run time: 02/23/10 11:26:24 HTTP, HTTPS, FTP Diagnostic
HTTP, HTTPS, FTP connectivity

info HTTP: Successfully connected to www.microsoft.com.
info HTTPS: Successfully connected to www.microsoft.com.
warn FTP (Passive): Error 12029 connecting to ftp.microsoft.com: A connection with the server could not be established
warn FTP (Active): Error 12029 connecting to ftp.microsoft.com: A connection with the server could not be established
error Could not make an FTP connection.
info Redirecting user to support call



DNS Client Diagnostic
DNS - Not a home user scenario

info Using Web Proxy: no
info Resolving name ok for (www.microsoft.com): yes
No DNS servers

DNS failure




Gateway Diagnostic
Gateway

info The following proxy configuration is being used by IE: Automatically Detect Settingsisabled Automatic Configuration Script: Proxy Server: Proxy Bypass list:
info This computer has the following default gateway entry(ies): 192.168.1.254
info This computer has the following IP address(es): 192.168.1.65
info The default gateway is in the same subnet as this computer
info The default gateway entry is a valid unicast address
info The default gateway address was resolved via ARP in 1 try(ies)
info The default gateway was reached via ICMP Ping in 2 try(ies)
info TCP port 80 on host 65.55.12.249 was successfully reached
info The Internet host www.microsoft.com was successfully reached
info The default gateway is OK



IP Layer Diagnostic
Corrupted IP routing table

info The default route is valid
info The loopback route is valid
info The local host route is valid
info The local subnet route is valid
Invalid ARP cache entries

action The ARP cache has been flushed



IP Configuration Diagnostic
Invalid IP address

info Valid IP address detected: 192.168.1.65



Wireless Diagnostic
Wireless - Service disabled

Wireless - User SSID

Wireless - First time setup

Wireless - Radio off

Wireless - Out of range

Wireless - Hardware issue

Wireless - Novice user

Wireless - Ad-hoc network

Wireless - Less preferred

Wireless - 802.1x enabled

Wireless - Configuration mismatch

Wireless - Low SNR




WinSock Diagnostic
WinSock status

info IrDA protocol is not found in Winsock catalog.
info All base service provider entries are present in the Winsock catalog.
info The Winsock Service provider chains are valid.
info Provider entry MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP] passed the loopback communication test.
info Provider entry MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP] passed the loopback communication test.
info Provider entry RSVP UDP Service Provider passed the loopback communication test.
info Provider entry RSVP TCP Service Provider passed the loopback communication test.
info Connectivity is valid for all Winsock service providers.



Network Adapter Diagnostic
Network location detection

info Using home Internet connection
Network adapter identification

info Network connection: Name=Local Area Connection 2, Device=Belkin F5D5005 v2000 Gigabit Desktop PCI Card, MediaType=LAN, SubMediaType=LAN
info Network connection: Name=1394 Connection, Device=1394 Net Adapter, MediaType=LAN, SubMediaType=1394
info Ethernet connection selected
Network adapter status

info Network connection status: Connected



HTTP, HTTPS, FTP Diagnostic
HTTP, HTTPS, FTP connectivity

warn HTTP: Error 12007 connecting to www.microsoft.com: The server name or address could not be resolved
warn FTP (Passive): Error 12007 connecting to ftp.microsoft.com: The server name or address could not be resolved
warn HTTPS: Error 12007 connecting to www.microsoft.com: The server name or address could not be resolved
warn HTTP: Error 12007 connecting to www.hotmail.com: The server name or address could not be resolved
warn HTTPS: Error 12007 connecting to www.passport.net: The server name or address could not be resolved
warn FTP (Active): Error 12007 connecting to ftp.microsoft.com: The server name or address could not be resolved
error Could not make an HTTP connection.
error Could not make an HTTPS connection.
error Could not make an FTP connection.

 

[thatbloke]

What version of Windows are you using? Vista or Win7? 32 or 64 bit?

Are you using a router? If so, how many computers or devices are connected to it? Are you wireless or wired? If there is more than one device on the router does everything that is connected lose its connection or is it just you?

 

[Wraith]

Windows XP 32 bit with all the updates.

Wired connection through BT home hub for both my PC and Xbox 360. As far as I can tell the 360 does not lose connection.

 

[Ronin Storm]

When you PC has lost connection, has your X360 got connection okay at that point?

When your PC has lost connection, do you still have the hardware lights on the network card and/or router that indicate that you have a physical connection? If so, is that flashing in a way that would indicate packet collisions?

Are you running anything that automatically and intermittently connects to the net as a background application/service such as Folding@Home?

The log you post is when your connection is working fine, not when it is broken? i.e. after you've fixed it?

When it's broken, what happens if you try the following commands from the command line (sequentially, in the order shown below)?

ping 127.0.0.1
ping 192.168.1.254
ping 195.92.195.92
ping www.thehavennet.org.uk
ping www.cheese.com

Whatever the case, I suspect the real problem is the bit that tells you that DNS has failed, but try the above and let's see how that helps.

 

[thatbloke]

The problem appears to be occurring at regulra intervals - Do you have the DHCP lease in your router setup to "infinite" or "a very long time" and not something stupidly short like, say, 15 minutes?

 

[Iron_fist]

have you got Upnp enabled on the router as i have found that certain gigabit cards don't like the home hub Upnp packets, also given it looks like you're using a PCI network card is there an on-board card you could try and see if the same problems persist?

 

[Wraith]

When you PC has lost connection, has your X360 got connection okay at that point?

Yes, it stays connected fine.

When your PC has lost connection, do you still have the hardware lights on the network card and/or router that indicate that you have a physical connection? If so, is that flashing in a way that would indicate packet collisions?

All lights on the router stay on (and stay green - I think it has red lights to indicate problems but not sure) when connection goes down. I don't know how I would tell if the lights were indicating packet collisions but they aren't flashing at all - they are just showing a steady glow.

Are you running anything that automatically and intermittently connects to the net as a background application/service such as Folding@Home?

Nope.

The log you post is when your connection is working fine, not when it is broken? i.e. after you've fixed it?

The log I posted is what came up when I clicked the "view last diagnostic log" option on the screen that came up after it had restored connection so I assume it's when it's working fine.

When it's broken, what happens if you try the following commands from the command line (sequentially, in the order shown below)?

ping 127.0.0.1
ping 192.168.1.254
ping 195.92.195.92
ping www.thehavennet.org.uk
ping www.cheese.com

Where do I need to enter these commands? I tried it from the DOS looking prompt that I got to using "Run-> command prompt" which didn't recognise "ping" as a valid command.

I then tried it from the "run" box which flicked up a similar box to the DOS styler one with 3 lines of text on it but closed it down too fast for me to read them.


thatbloke / Iron_fist I don't understand your questions or how to find the information to answer them so a less technical translation would be appreciated. I will say that I've changed nothing in my setup recently and as this has only started happening in the last week or so I didn't think it could be any of the settings. I will check though once I know what you're talking about

 

[thatbloke]

Regarding what I mentioned, when you connect to a router, your computer asks that router for an IP address - something you can setup on the router side of things to do with that IP address that it give out is how long that particular device should have that IP address for - if that time is something very low (15 minutes, maybe? ) then you will be forced to reacquire a new IP adress from your router (momentarily cutting out your network connection) every 15 minutes.

It's unlikely unless someone has been playing around with the settings in your router, and as I havent used a homehub for a very long time I couldn't tell you where to look in the homehub router management pages to check this.

Might also be worth seeing if your computer is somehow releasing your IP every 15 minutes, though where I'm not sure

 

[Iron_fist]

ok i'll start with the 2nd part first

Network Adapter Diagnostic

info Network connection: Name=Local Area Connection 2, Device=Belkin F5D5005 v2000 Gigabit Desktop PCI Card, MediaType=LAN, SubMediaType=LAN

from that it looks like you have a network card installed that in not on your motherboard, do you have another port for the network on the main motherboard you can try and see if the same problem appears? if you do have a 2nd port you may have it swiched off in the boot menu, if that is the case you'll need to re-enable it. if the same thing occurs with a different card then it's nothing to do with the actual card or it's software

also for ping you should be able to run it from command prompt, however you can also try entering cmd into the run box and running it in there

 

[Ronin Storm]

I then tried it from the "run" box which flicked up a similar box to the DOS styler one with 3 lines of text on it but closed it down too fast for me to read them.

Probably the easiest way, then, is to create a text file called "test.bat" or something similar. Then edit it to have the following:

C:\Windows\System32\ping 127.0.0.1
C:\Windows\System32\ping 192.168.1.254
C:\Windows\System32\ping 195.92.195.92
C:\Windows\System32\ping www.thehavennet.org.uk
C:\Windows\System32\ping www.cheese.com
pause

Then run the batch file by double clicking on it. The pause at the end should keep the prompt in view 'til you dismiss the window.

 

[Wraith]

Results so far:

The ping commands gave the following results
Test 1 - 127.0.0.1
Pinging 127.0.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
Packets: Sent=4, Received=4, Lost=0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip time in milli-seconds:
Minimum=3ms, Maximum=3ms, Average=3ms

Test 2 - 192.168.1.254
Pinging 192.168.1.254 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.254:
Packets: Sent=4, Received=0, Lost=4 (100% loss),

Test 3 - THN
Ping request could not find host www.thehavennet.org.uk. Please check the name and try again.

Test 4 - Cheese.com
Ping request could not find host www.cheese.com. Please check the name and try again.

I assume the first test is internal to the computer which is why it got a response when the other three didn't? Either way, the other three tests do seem to me to show that when the connection drops it's not just the browser but a complete drop of all internet connection?


Iron_fist: There is a network port on the motherboard but it stopped working about a year ago when a friend of mine caught the wire with his foot and pulled it out. He bought me the network card as a replacement. I did try it but it just tells me to check that the cables are connected.

 

[Ronin Storm]

Hmm, when it has failed, please would you try:

ipconfig /all

Just want to cross reference the diagnostics with the actual configuration at time of failure.

 

[Wraith]

Hmm, when it has failed, please would you try:

ipconfig /all

Just want to cross reference the diagnostics with the actual configuration at time of failure.

It comes up with the following:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name................:mine
Primary Dns Suffix.......:
Node Type................:Unknown
IP Routing Enabled.......:No
WINS Proxy Enabled.......:No
DNS Suffix Search List...:home

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix.:home
Description....................:Belkin F5D5005 v2000 Gigabit Desktop PCI Card
Physical Address...............:00-17-3F-9C-1D-3D
Dhcp Enabled...................:Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled......:Yes
IP Address.....................:192.168.1.65
Subnet Mask....................:255.255.255.0
Default Gateway................:192.168.1.254
DHCP Server....................:192.168.1.254
DNS Servers....................:192.168.1.254
Lease Obtained.................:23 February 2010 16:08:58
Lease Expires..................:24 February 2010 16:08:58

Hope you understand what all of that means because I certainly don't

 

[thatbloke]

the last two lines rule out all the crap I was on about with regards to a DHCP lease

Is that during a cutout or just while connected as normal?

Also thought I'd mention, as it's not immediately obvious, how you can copy/paste straight from the command window (apologies if u already know this):

When you have what you want to copy up in the screen, left click on the small black icon in the very top left of the command window (on the title bar). Go into Edit and then press the "Mark" option. It will then return you to the command window - you can then drag a white box over the text in the window so highlight whatever you want to copy by click-dragging a box over the text you want, and then press Enter. The white box should then disappear. You can then paste (with either ctrl+V or the right click->paste option) into notepad, this forum box, or wherever you like directly.

 

[Wraith]

the last two lines rule out all the crap I was on about with regards to a DHCP lease

Is that during a cutout or just while connected as normal?

Also thought I'd mention, as it's not immediately obvious, how you can copy/paste straight from the command window (apologies if u already know this):

When you have what you want to copy up in the screen, left click on the small black icon in the very top left of the command window (on the title bar). Go into Edit and then press the "Mark" option. It will then return you to the command window - you can then drag a white box over the text in the window so highlight whatever you want to copy by click-dragging a box over the text you want, and then press Enter. The white box should then disappear. You can then paste (with either ctrl+V or the right click->paste option) into notepad, this forum box, or wherever you like directly.

That last post was the result of typing "ipconfig /all" into the command prompt while the connection was down.

Also thanks for letting me know about the copy/paste. Very helpful.

 

[thatbloke]

That last post was the result of typing "ipconfig /all" into the command prompt while the connection was down.

Also thanks for letting me know about the copy/paste. Very helpful.

Can you do the same but with the connection up properly so we can compare?

 

[Ronin Storm]

Yep, all that makes sense.

Tells me that it's not a configuration problem at that sort of level.

Is the drop out every 15 minutes exactly? That might imply that the network card has gone into a power saving mode.

Can you change the port on your router that the PC connects to? Perhaps to plug it into the port that the X360 was using? Does that help?

Can you swap the cable for the one the X360 is using? Does that help?

 

[Wraith]

Yep, all that makes sense.

Tells me that it's not a configuration problem at that sort of level.

Is the drop out every 15 minutes exactly? That might imply that the network card has gone into a power saving mode.

Can you change the port on your router that the PC connects to? Perhaps to plug it into the port that the X360 was using? Does that help?

Can you swap the cable for the one the X360 is using? Does that help?

I've not timed it exactly but it does seem to be every 15 minutes. Assuming that it is due to going into power saving mode do you have any idea how I would a) check that and b) fix it?

Swapped the router port with the Xbox one and that made no difference to either the PC or the Xbox. The cable for my Xbox is under the carpets around the edge of the room and to get to it will involve moving several large items of furniture so I can't easily check that one.

thatbloke: The "ipconfig /all" command returned exactly the same result when the connection was up as when it was down. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

 

[thatbloke]

From memory: Go to control panel, then open network connections. Find the one that you are using, then right click and select properties. You should theen have a window with a whole bunch of stuff in the middle. At the top should be a dropbox with the name of your network card on it, and right of that a button saying 'configure'. Click that, then in one of the tabs you should see an option that says "allow windows toturn off this device to save power" - make sure it is unticked

 

[Ronin Storm]

Assuming that it is due to going into power saving mode do you have any idea how I would a) check that and b) fix it?

Difficult to describe as I neither have XP in front of me nor know exactly what options would be presented to you. However, very roughly:

In Windows Explorer, right click on My Computer and choose either "Manage" or "Properties".

Find the tab that allows you access to the Device Manager.

In the Device Manager, open the tree item for network adapters and you should see your network card listed. Right click on that and choose properties.

In one of the tabs, probably Advanced or Power Management, there may be an option for turning the network card off to preserve power. Turn those options off/on appropriately so that the card is never disabled.

You may need to reboot to make that take effect.

See if that helps.

I suspect that Windows Update has helpfully provided you with a driver update for your network card that has given it an option that is screwing your networking up. No proof or other evidence in what you've said so far, but it's a hypothesis that isn't disproven by the facts available.